WASHINGTON - Ricky Lee Greenwood, of Portland, Ore., was indicted late last night on nine counts of wire fraud, nine counts of filing false claims for tax refunds, and eight counts of aggravated identity theft, the Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced. Greenwood made his initial appearance in court Wednesday in Portland.

According to the 26-count indictment, Greenwood electronically filed at least 66 false tax returns with fictitious wage and false dependent information, requesting at least $300,000 in fraudulent refunds. Greenwood is alleged to have obtained the names and Social Security numbers of unemployed individuals in order to file fraudulent tax returns in their names. According to the indictment, Greenwood also obtained the Social Security numbers of children and claimed them on the tax returns of unrelated individuals to maximize refundable credits - such as the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Additional Child Tax Credit - and further inflate the fraudulent refunds. In addition, according to the indictment, Greenwood had the fraudulent refunds delivered to him or deposited into accounts that he controlled.

An indictment merely alleges that crimes have been committed, and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. If convicted, Greenwood faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison for each false claims count, up to 20 years in prison for each wire fraud count, and a mandatory two-year sentence on the aggravated identity theft counts. If convicted, he could be subject to fines, mandatory restitution and a money judgment.